Journal of Research in Economics, Politics & Finance, 2018
This paper has the goal of contributing to the academic literature on Turkey's energy strategy in... more This paper has the goal of contributing to the academic literature on Turkey's energy strategy in two ways. Firstly, through explaining the role of and interaction between the most important determinants of Turkey's foreign oil and natural gas strategy, the paper aims at contributing to further understanding of the strategy. Secondly, while a number of academic studies have analyzed Ankara's energy policy, they have remained mostly policy-based. Thus, by describing the key determinative elements of Ankara's external oil and natural gas strategy in the framework of Realism and Liberalism, the paper also aims to fill in this important gap in the academic literature. As shown in this article, both theories are rather helpful in explaining the principal determinants of Turkey's foreign oil and natural gas strategy. The paper argues that the most crucial determinative elements of the strategy, in terms of the order of their importance, are the concerns of the country over its energy security, its goal of becoming an energy hub, several regional developments, the economic and business partnerships between Turkey and its energy allies, and foreign ambitions of Turkish energy firms.
Turkey is currently one of the significant oil transit countries in the world. The country is als... more Turkey is currently one of the significant oil transit countries in the world. The country is also increasingly involved in gas pipeline projects and thereby boosts its importance in the gas transit. Turkish leaders strive for turning the country into an energy hub as becoming such a hub offers certain economic and geostrategic advantages. First of all, it would enable the country to diversify its oil and gas suppliers and as a result increase the security of its oil and gas supplies. It would also give the opportunity of using the transit role as leverage against involved parties to maximize Turkey’s national interests, expanding its importance in energy geopolitics and thereby contributing to its regional power. But, the country has not managed to become an energy hub due to a number of reasons, including the instability in its region, its increasing energy demand, the lack of necessary internal energy infrastructure, insufficient liberalization in the Turkish energy sector and the failure of the implementation of considerable number of cross-border pipeline projects. Through scrutinizing Turkey’s role and potential as an energy hub in the framework of Realism and Liberalism, this paper aims at providing a comprehensive and framed explanation of Turkey’s role in the energy transit.
Journal of Economic Cooperation and Development, 2018
A number of academic studies have covered Turkey’s energy relations with Kazakhstan,
overwhelming... more A number of academic studies have covered Turkey’s energy relations with Kazakhstan, overwhelmingly in the context of Turkey’s energy cooperation with Caspian Sea or Central Asian countries. But, since there is a great potential of energy collaboration between Ankara and Astana, this collaboration deserves to be analysed exclusively. Hence, by covering the energy partnership between Turkey and Kazakhstan, this study attempts to fill in this significant gap in the academic literature on Turkish-Kazakh energy ties. In addition, the existing studies have rarely applied IR theories to describe these ties. Through explaining Ankara’s energy cooperation with Astana in the framework of Realism and Liberalism, this paper seeks to fill in this gap. The analysis made in this context shows that Turkey’s energy security concerns; its aspiration of becoming an energy hub; the economic and business partnerships established between Turkey and Kazakhstan; the close political, historical and cultural links between the two countries; and regional issues such as the aspiration of the EU to reduce its dependence on Russian gas and the competition among Russia, Turkey, Iran, China and the EU control over the Caspian energy resources, including those of Kazakhstan, are the main determinants of Turkey-Kazakhstan energy cooperation.
This paper aims at exploring internal and external dynamics of Turkey-KRG energy relations. It ar... more This paper aims at exploring internal and external dynamics of Turkey-KRG energy relations. It argues that Turkey's fight against the PKK, its increasing energy need, the target of Turkish energy decision-makers to decrease the high reliance of the country on Russian and Iranian gas, Turkey's goal of emerging as an energy hub, the economic interests of Turkish business groups, the strained relations between Ankara and Baghdad, and Erbil-Baghdad conflict have been the major determinants of Turkey's energy strategy towards the KRG. The paper concludes that the independence referendum held by the KRG in September 2017 has serious implications for the future of the Ankara-Erbil energy partnership, depending on measures to be taken by Kurdish and Iraqi leaders.
This paper aims at exploring internal and external dynamics of Turkey-KRG energy relations. It ar... more This paper aims at exploring internal and external dynamics of Turkey-KRG energy relations. It argues that Turkey's fight against the PKK, its increasing energy need, the target of Turkish energy decision-makers to decrease the high reliance of the country on Russian and Iranian gas, Turkey's goal of emerging as an energy hub, the economic interests of Turkish business groups, the strained relations between Ankara and Baghdad, and Erbil-Baghdad conflict have been the major determinants of Turkey's energy strategy towards the KRG. The paper concludes that the independence referendum held by the KRG in September 2017 has serious implications for the future of the Ankara-Erbil energy partnership, depending on measures to be taken by Kurdish and Iraqi leaders.
The EU and NATO announced the start of their ‘strategic partnership’ with the Declaration on the ... more The EU and NATO announced the start of their ‘strategic partnership’ with the Declaration on the ESDP in 2002. Through this strategic partnership, the two organizations aim to achieve their high-priority goals in the context of security and defence. Although the EU-NATO partnership is crucial for security, peace and stability in the world; a genuine strategic partnership between the EU and NATO has not yet been achieved because of different ‘obstacles’. The purpose of this work is to analyse how and to what extent the Cyprus conflict has limited this strategic partnership. The limitations caused by the conflict on the EU-NATO strategic partnership have been elaborated by analysing the current developments at the political and military-strategic levels and on the ground. Additionally, some case studies such as Kosovo and Afghanistan have been used to see the impact of the conflict on the EU-NATO cooperation. The conclusion of this study consists of some recommendations for possible measures that need to be taken by all the related parties in order to bring the on-going conflict on the island to an end and to achieve a fully-fledged strategic partnership.
This study seeks to find out the major determinants and trends of Turkey’s foreign oil and natura... more This study seeks to find out the major determinants and trends of Turkey’s foreign oil and natural gas strategy. The central question that it aims to answer is “What are the main trends and the principal determinants of Turkey’s foreign oil and natural gas strategy?” The study concludes that there are five major determinative elements of the strategy, namely Turkey’s concerns over the energy security; its aspiration of becoming an energy hub; some regional developments; business and trade partnerships between Turkey and its (potential) energy partners; and the foreign ambitions of Turkish energy firms. The concerns over the energy security are the most vital determinant, while the goal of becoming an energy hub is also a highly significant determinative element. With regards to the tendency of the strategy, the study has a number of important findings. First of all, Turkey’s power in bilateral (energy) relations is an inverse function of its energy dependence on its energy partners. That is, the more Turkey is reliant on the energy partners, the less power it has in the relations with them. Besides, the extent of its power in the energy relations importantly determines the room for manoeuvre in the Turkish foreign policy. Moreover, when Turkey is highly dependent on its energy partners and there are clashes between its energy considerations and foreign policy interests due to conflicts with the partners, then the former prevail over the latter and the country has to favour the energy cooperation instead of dispute with the partners. In addition, the more Ankara is reliant on the partners, the less benefits it can obtain from the energy cooperation. Hence, it is in the interest of the country to establish equalled energy partnerships with its energy allies to the extent possible. Lastly, Turkey occasionally uses its energy collaboration as an instrument in order to prevent the worsening of its relations with its key energy allies because its economic interests generally dominate its foreign policy considerations in such cases. The existing academic studies have analysed Turkey’s energy policy by covering only a few topics and rarely analysed Turkey’s energy strategy through applying IR theories. On the contrary, this study examines Turkey’s foreign oil and natural gas strategy by covering various related matters, countries, regions, organizations and actors based on a comprehensive theoretical framework composed of the paradigms of Realism and Liberalism. This is intended to be one of the most prominent contributions of this study to the literature on Turkey’s energy strategy.
Since energy has an impact on economy and security of countries, there is a direct link between e... more Since energy has an impact on economy and security of countries, there is a direct link between energy and foreign policy. Energy is perceived as a way to make national foreign policy goals achieved. Therefore, energy relations between countries in the world take place at a larger context rather than just an energy issue. Analyzing the reasons behind the 1973 oil embargo clearly shows how energy can be used as a political weapon to achieve foreign policy goals. Russia is a very important actor in the field of energy. It is currently being accused of building energy leverage over the importing and transit countries in order to regain power and reputation which it lost since the Cold War. Turkey is a crucial energy transit country because it is so close to large energy supplier and consumer countries. Turkey is considered that it uses its geostrategic position as leverage to be a hegemony player in the region. While the approach of using energy as a political tool may seem successful in short time, it has been considered as very risky for long term period.
Given the strategic geopolitical position of Turkey, the country has a crucial
role to play in d... more Given the strategic geopolitical position of Turkey, the country has a crucial
role to play in diversifying energy resources and routes for oil and gas from
neighbouring countries to the EU. Furthermore, Turkey’s importance in the EU’s
quests to ensure secure access to energy resources has been significantly increasing,
particularly after the last crisis between Russia and Ukraine. However, while
Turkey’s this role is mutually beneficial for both sides, it is not the only determinant of
Ankara-Brussels energy cooperation, considering that there are several internal and
external factors that affect this cooperation. Thus, through addressing the question of
“What are the trends and determinants of the energy cooperation between Turkey and
the EU?”, this paper aims at providing the tendency and determining factors of this
collaboration. The paper will explore motivations behind Turkey-EU energy
cooperation and obstacles preventing to achieve full-fledged energy
collaboration. Moreover, the paper will cover some initiatives seeking to overcome these
obstacles and provide some recommendations for further optimizing the energy
collaboration.
Journal of Research in Economics, Politics & Finance, 2018
This paper has the goal of contributing to the academic literature on Turkey's energy strategy in... more This paper has the goal of contributing to the academic literature on Turkey's energy strategy in two ways. Firstly, through explaining the role of and interaction between the most important determinants of Turkey's foreign oil and natural gas strategy, the paper aims at contributing to further understanding of the strategy. Secondly, while a number of academic studies have analyzed Ankara's energy policy, they have remained mostly policy-based. Thus, by describing the key determinative elements of Ankara's external oil and natural gas strategy in the framework of Realism and Liberalism, the paper also aims to fill in this important gap in the academic literature. As shown in this article, both theories are rather helpful in explaining the principal determinants of Turkey's foreign oil and natural gas strategy. The paper argues that the most crucial determinative elements of the strategy, in terms of the order of their importance, are the concerns of the country over its energy security, its goal of becoming an energy hub, several regional developments, the economic and business partnerships between Turkey and its energy allies, and foreign ambitions of Turkish energy firms.
Turkey is currently one of the significant oil transit countries in the world. The country is als... more Turkey is currently one of the significant oil transit countries in the world. The country is also increasingly involved in gas pipeline projects and thereby boosts its importance in the gas transit. Turkish leaders strive for turning the country into an energy hub as becoming such a hub offers certain economic and geostrategic advantages. First of all, it would enable the country to diversify its oil and gas suppliers and as a result increase the security of its oil and gas supplies. It would also give the opportunity of using the transit role as leverage against involved parties to maximize Turkey’s national interests, expanding its importance in energy geopolitics and thereby contributing to its regional power. But, the country has not managed to become an energy hub due to a number of reasons, including the instability in its region, its increasing energy demand, the lack of necessary internal energy infrastructure, insufficient liberalization in the Turkish energy sector and the failure of the implementation of considerable number of cross-border pipeline projects. Through scrutinizing Turkey’s role and potential as an energy hub in the framework of Realism and Liberalism, this paper aims at providing a comprehensive and framed explanation of Turkey’s role in the energy transit.
Journal of Economic Cooperation and Development, 2018
A number of academic studies have covered Turkey’s energy relations with Kazakhstan,
overwhelming... more A number of academic studies have covered Turkey’s energy relations with Kazakhstan, overwhelmingly in the context of Turkey’s energy cooperation with Caspian Sea or Central Asian countries. But, since there is a great potential of energy collaboration between Ankara and Astana, this collaboration deserves to be analysed exclusively. Hence, by covering the energy partnership between Turkey and Kazakhstan, this study attempts to fill in this significant gap in the academic literature on Turkish-Kazakh energy ties. In addition, the existing studies have rarely applied IR theories to describe these ties. Through explaining Ankara’s energy cooperation with Astana in the framework of Realism and Liberalism, this paper seeks to fill in this gap. The analysis made in this context shows that Turkey’s energy security concerns; its aspiration of becoming an energy hub; the economic and business partnerships established between Turkey and Kazakhstan; the close political, historical and cultural links between the two countries; and regional issues such as the aspiration of the EU to reduce its dependence on Russian gas and the competition among Russia, Turkey, Iran, China and the EU control over the Caspian energy resources, including those of Kazakhstan, are the main determinants of Turkey-Kazakhstan energy cooperation.
This paper aims at exploring internal and external dynamics of Turkey-KRG energy relations. It ar... more This paper aims at exploring internal and external dynamics of Turkey-KRG energy relations. It argues that Turkey's fight against the PKK, its increasing energy need, the target of Turkish energy decision-makers to decrease the high reliance of the country on Russian and Iranian gas, Turkey's goal of emerging as an energy hub, the economic interests of Turkish business groups, the strained relations between Ankara and Baghdad, and Erbil-Baghdad conflict have been the major determinants of Turkey's energy strategy towards the KRG. The paper concludes that the independence referendum held by the KRG in September 2017 has serious implications for the future of the Ankara-Erbil energy partnership, depending on measures to be taken by Kurdish and Iraqi leaders.
This paper aims at exploring internal and external dynamics of Turkey-KRG energy relations. It ar... more This paper aims at exploring internal and external dynamics of Turkey-KRG energy relations. It argues that Turkey's fight against the PKK, its increasing energy need, the target of Turkish energy decision-makers to decrease the high reliance of the country on Russian and Iranian gas, Turkey's goal of emerging as an energy hub, the economic interests of Turkish business groups, the strained relations between Ankara and Baghdad, and Erbil-Baghdad conflict have been the major determinants of Turkey's energy strategy towards the KRG. The paper concludes that the independence referendum held by the KRG in September 2017 has serious implications for the future of the Ankara-Erbil energy partnership, depending on measures to be taken by Kurdish and Iraqi leaders.
The EU and NATO announced the start of their ‘strategic partnership’ with the Declaration on the ... more The EU and NATO announced the start of their ‘strategic partnership’ with the Declaration on the ESDP in 2002. Through this strategic partnership, the two organizations aim to achieve their high-priority goals in the context of security and defence. Although the EU-NATO partnership is crucial for security, peace and stability in the world; a genuine strategic partnership between the EU and NATO has not yet been achieved because of different ‘obstacles’. The purpose of this work is to analyse how and to what extent the Cyprus conflict has limited this strategic partnership. The limitations caused by the conflict on the EU-NATO strategic partnership have been elaborated by analysing the current developments at the political and military-strategic levels and on the ground. Additionally, some case studies such as Kosovo and Afghanistan have been used to see the impact of the conflict on the EU-NATO cooperation. The conclusion of this study consists of some recommendations for possible measures that need to be taken by all the related parties in order to bring the on-going conflict on the island to an end and to achieve a fully-fledged strategic partnership.
This study seeks to find out the major determinants and trends of Turkey’s foreign oil and natura... more This study seeks to find out the major determinants and trends of Turkey’s foreign oil and natural gas strategy. The central question that it aims to answer is “What are the main trends and the principal determinants of Turkey’s foreign oil and natural gas strategy?” The study concludes that there are five major determinative elements of the strategy, namely Turkey’s concerns over the energy security; its aspiration of becoming an energy hub; some regional developments; business and trade partnerships between Turkey and its (potential) energy partners; and the foreign ambitions of Turkish energy firms. The concerns over the energy security are the most vital determinant, while the goal of becoming an energy hub is also a highly significant determinative element. With regards to the tendency of the strategy, the study has a number of important findings. First of all, Turkey’s power in bilateral (energy) relations is an inverse function of its energy dependence on its energy partners. That is, the more Turkey is reliant on the energy partners, the less power it has in the relations with them. Besides, the extent of its power in the energy relations importantly determines the room for manoeuvre in the Turkish foreign policy. Moreover, when Turkey is highly dependent on its energy partners and there are clashes between its energy considerations and foreign policy interests due to conflicts with the partners, then the former prevail over the latter and the country has to favour the energy cooperation instead of dispute with the partners. In addition, the more Ankara is reliant on the partners, the less benefits it can obtain from the energy cooperation. Hence, it is in the interest of the country to establish equalled energy partnerships with its energy allies to the extent possible. Lastly, Turkey occasionally uses its energy collaboration as an instrument in order to prevent the worsening of its relations with its key energy allies because its economic interests generally dominate its foreign policy considerations in such cases. The existing academic studies have analysed Turkey’s energy policy by covering only a few topics and rarely analysed Turkey’s energy strategy through applying IR theories. On the contrary, this study examines Turkey’s foreign oil and natural gas strategy by covering various related matters, countries, regions, organizations and actors based on a comprehensive theoretical framework composed of the paradigms of Realism and Liberalism. This is intended to be one of the most prominent contributions of this study to the literature on Turkey’s energy strategy.
Since energy has an impact on economy and security of countries, there is a direct link between e... more Since energy has an impact on economy and security of countries, there is a direct link between energy and foreign policy. Energy is perceived as a way to make national foreign policy goals achieved. Therefore, energy relations between countries in the world take place at a larger context rather than just an energy issue. Analyzing the reasons behind the 1973 oil embargo clearly shows how energy can be used as a political weapon to achieve foreign policy goals. Russia is a very important actor in the field of energy. It is currently being accused of building energy leverage over the importing and transit countries in order to regain power and reputation which it lost since the Cold War. Turkey is a crucial energy transit country because it is so close to large energy supplier and consumer countries. Turkey is considered that it uses its geostrategic position as leverage to be a hegemony player in the region. While the approach of using energy as a political tool may seem successful in short time, it has been considered as very risky for long term period.
Given the strategic geopolitical position of Turkey, the country has a crucial
role to play in d... more Given the strategic geopolitical position of Turkey, the country has a crucial
role to play in diversifying energy resources and routes for oil and gas from
neighbouring countries to the EU. Furthermore, Turkey’s importance in the EU’s
quests to ensure secure access to energy resources has been significantly increasing,
particularly after the last crisis between Russia and Ukraine. However, while
Turkey’s this role is mutually beneficial for both sides, it is not the only determinant of
Ankara-Brussels energy cooperation, considering that there are several internal and
external factors that affect this cooperation. Thus, through addressing the question of
“What are the trends and determinants of the energy cooperation between Turkey and
the EU?”, this paper aims at providing the tendency and determining factors of this
collaboration. The paper will explore motivations behind Turkey-EU energy
cooperation and obstacles preventing to achieve full-fledged energy
collaboration. Moreover, the paper will cover some initiatives seeking to overcome these
obstacles and provide some recommendations for further optimizing the energy
collaboration.
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overwhelmingly in the context of Turkey’s energy cooperation with Caspian Sea or Central Asian countries.
But, since there is a great potential of energy collaboration between Ankara and Astana, this collaboration
deserves to be analysed exclusively. Hence, by covering the energy partnership between Turkey and
Kazakhstan, this study attempts to fill in this significant gap in the academic literature on Turkish-Kazakh
energy ties. In addition, the existing studies have rarely applied IR theories to describe these ties. Through
explaining Ankara’s energy cooperation with Astana in the framework of Realism and Liberalism, this
paper seeks to fill in this gap. The analysis made in this context shows that Turkey’s energy security
concerns; its aspiration of becoming an energy hub; the economic and business partnerships established
between Turkey and Kazakhstan; the close political, historical and cultural links between the two countries;
and regional issues such as the aspiration of the EU to reduce its dependence on Russian gas and the
competition among Russia, Turkey, Iran, China and the EU control over the Caspian energy resources,
including those of Kazakhstan, are the main determinants of Turkey-Kazakhstan energy cooperation.
role to play in diversifying energy resources and routes for oil and gas from
neighbouring countries to the EU. Furthermore, Turkey’s importance in the EU’s
quests to ensure secure access to energy resources has been significantly increasing,
particularly after the last crisis between Russia and Ukraine. However, while
Turkey’s this role is mutually beneficial for both sides, it is not the only determinant of
Ankara-Brussels energy cooperation, considering that there are several internal and
external factors that affect this cooperation. Thus, through addressing the question of
“What are the trends and determinants of the energy cooperation between Turkey and
the EU?”, this paper aims at providing the tendency and determining factors of this
collaboration. The paper will explore motivations behind Turkey-EU energy
cooperation and obstacles preventing to achieve full-fledged energy
collaboration. Moreover, the paper will cover some initiatives seeking to overcome these
obstacles and provide some recommendations for further optimizing the energy
collaboration.
overwhelmingly in the context of Turkey’s energy cooperation with Caspian Sea or Central Asian countries.
But, since there is a great potential of energy collaboration between Ankara and Astana, this collaboration
deserves to be analysed exclusively. Hence, by covering the energy partnership between Turkey and
Kazakhstan, this study attempts to fill in this significant gap in the academic literature on Turkish-Kazakh
energy ties. In addition, the existing studies have rarely applied IR theories to describe these ties. Through
explaining Ankara’s energy cooperation with Astana in the framework of Realism and Liberalism, this
paper seeks to fill in this gap. The analysis made in this context shows that Turkey’s energy security
concerns; its aspiration of becoming an energy hub; the economic and business partnerships established
between Turkey and Kazakhstan; the close political, historical and cultural links between the two countries;
and regional issues such as the aspiration of the EU to reduce its dependence on Russian gas and the
competition among Russia, Turkey, Iran, China and the EU control over the Caspian energy resources,
including those of Kazakhstan, are the main determinants of Turkey-Kazakhstan energy cooperation.
role to play in diversifying energy resources and routes for oil and gas from
neighbouring countries to the EU. Furthermore, Turkey’s importance in the EU’s
quests to ensure secure access to energy resources has been significantly increasing,
particularly after the last crisis between Russia and Ukraine. However, while
Turkey’s this role is mutually beneficial for both sides, it is not the only determinant of
Ankara-Brussels energy cooperation, considering that there are several internal and
external factors that affect this cooperation. Thus, through addressing the question of
“What are the trends and determinants of the energy cooperation between Turkey and
the EU?”, this paper aims at providing the tendency and determining factors of this
collaboration. The paper will explore motivations behind Turkey-EU energy
cooperation and obstacles preventing to achieve full-fledged energy
collaboration. Moreover, the paper will cover some initiatives seeking to overcome these
obstacles and provide some recommendations for further optimizing the energy
collaboration.